My Worst Brings Out The Best In You
by athermiac
Summary: Destined for a life apart, can these two unlikely people come together and let love rein over all?Fluff warning....! GinnyDraco
1. A Plan

**Vinegar and water. Cats and dogs. Chocolate and medicine. Happy and sad. Fire and ice.**

**The Malfoys and the Weasleys. **

**Things that really don't go well together and that shouldn't be put together at all in the first place. Things that cancel each other out. Complete opposites that cancel each other out. But somehow, these things can often get brought together, typically against their will. And the results are almost always catastrophic. **

**With the Malfoys and the Weasleys, no one knows what started it. No one knows when or why these families began to fight. Bright blonde, contrasted against flaming red. A rich pureblood kin and a poor muggle-loving clan. There are plenty of haughty rich families and poor humble ones, but why do these two hate each other more than most?**

**People don't tend to care or even think about the origin of this legendary hatred, just as long as they keep bickering. It's the way things are. It's better they fight without reason then make up without one, right? One will triumph over the other sooner or later anyway. Why not just let it continue until they burn themselves out? **

**Or, until a twist of fate decides otherwise.**

**This is the story of love, true or fabricated, and how it will stand even the hardest challenge. It will topple the wall that have kept two families apart from so long and will disintegrate a little bit of the hate and evil that makes the world so cold. **

**At least, let's hope it will.**

**The long, twig like fingers tapped impatiently on a solid but worn wooden table. Attached to the fingers was a hand, as pale as a rotting corpse. Attached to that hand, was the evil Lord Voldermort. His face as nose-less, bloodless, and smile-free as always. He did, however, look a bit more agitated than usual.**

**Things weren't going the way he wanted them to. Tasks he assigned weren't being done. He needed better recruits. He had to kill three minions in the past week, far more than he'd have liked to. Though he enjoyed the looks of sheer horror upon their faces when he muttered the curse, he was losing Death Eaters. He needed new blood, excuse the pun. **

**Dumbledore was dead, that was one good point. Thanks to his now most loyal follower, he was a gigantic step closer to the boy, who now lay so open, but not unsuspecting, to him at school. But he couldn't go in and grab him. That wasn't his style and they would be expecting that. After their recent little party at Hogwarts in June, he couldn't just barge in because protection was bound to be tighter than usual. **

**His fingers continued to tap, his face set in the ugliest of scowls. He looked around him, taking in his surroundings. Once he killed the boy, he had to get a better headquarters. Perhaps the headmasters office at Hogwarts? A grin curled his nearly non-existent lips. Yes, that would do very fine. As opposed to this disgusting place he was in. Though it held so much of his ancient family history, the place just wasn't how he imagined at all. Decaying furniture, a carpet of dust upon the floor and the scent of rotting turnips… Not pleasant in the least. The only thing he liked about it was the snake that was still nailed to the door.**

**Back to Potter… How was he going to get to him with out risk? He needed to get someone physically inside the school, but he had no one. There were people like Crabbe and Goyle's sons, but word was they were even more dimwitted then their fathers. If possible. Montague finally graduated, Parkinson wouldn't have the nerve… Of course, there were others, but each candidate seemed less likely to achieve the task then the next. **

**There was suddenly a knock at the door. **

**Voldermort didn't look up or even move, though mentally shook out of his thoughts. He raised a skeletal hand and waved it. The door swung open. **

**"M'Lord," Lucius Malfoy murmured, stepping inside. He bent down on one knee at Voldermort's side and pulled down his hood, his long blonde hair falling over his shoulders. He took Voldermort's hand and kissed the top of it. "I came to see how things were developing. On the Potter front?"**

**Voldermort slowly turned his head, his eyes widening. They then narrowed and he smiled again. "Perfect. Now that you're here."**

**Lucius frowned curiously. "What do you mean, my liege?"**

**"Silence and listen," Voldermort instructed sharply, the smile momentarily gone. He got up and looked down at his servant, beginning to state a few facts. "Dumbledore is dead. Severus has fled the school. The offspring of Death Eaters I have in the school are useless to me until they can be better trained. Except one."**

**Lucius nodded patiently and continued to wait, his grey eyes sparkling with anticipation. He did not know where his lord was going with this, but it sounded good.**

**"Your son Draco wished to be involved in our cause," Voldermort said softly. "Yet, he failed the task I set for him the last time. Though Dumbledore ended up dead, anyway, Draco still, shall I say, 'chickened out'. I'm sure you were rightly ashamed of his failure?"**

**Lucius bowed his head in shame and nodded, but still watched his master.**

**"I shall give him another chance."**

**At this, Lucius nearly jumped up in excitement, but remained kneeling, knowing the consequence if he were to rise. **

**"He must lure the boy to me. But first, he must learn what emotions do to those who are weak."**

**"How so, my Lord?" Lucius was unable to contain himself. It had always been his, and Draco's, ambition to make his son a Death Eater. To prove he was strong enough to serve the Dark Lord and cleanse the world of the scum muggles they despised. **

**Voldermort began to pace. "Have a seat, Lucius," Voldermort said, his voice an air of kindness and his hand gesturing to the chair. Not believing his luck, Malfoy Sr. stood and took Voldermort's vacated seat.**

**"I understand you have a long-lasted scrap with the Weasley family?" Voldermort said at last, looking sideways at the other man, who nodded. "And there are two at Hogwarts, close to Potter… I am also to understand that your son is in opposition with the whole group of them?" Again, Lucius nodded. "Good, good, very good," Voldermort whispered mysteriously. **


	2. False Truths

**Draco sighed with relief and managed to crack a weak smile. After half an hour and three-fourths of a bottle of some nasty looking healing potion, Ginny had finally opened her eyes. Draco had watched her, seated on a hard backed chair in the Hospital Wing, since he levitated her up to the hospital wing, hoping she'd wake up soon. He went through many hopeful daydreams about her waking up and confessing her eternal and undying love for him in thanks for saving her. But soon, he'd given up and found himself just hoping she'd wake up.**

**Her almond-shaped eyes searched her surroundings momentarily, her face only slightly shocked, before landing on him. She stared, her gaze almost pleasantly surprised to see him and he looked uneasily back.**

**"Why'd you stop me?" she asked, her voice surprisingly strong for a person who'd been out cold for thirty straight minutes. He didn't answer for a moment, hardly even aware her lips had moved. Though he did understand why she asked. The old Malfoy would have laughed as she fell and probably even claimed the accident as his doing. But not anymore. He wasn't the old Malfoy.**

**"Why shouldn't I have?" he murmured at last, unable to find a better, more logical excuse.**

**"Because you hate me." Another pause. Her words were true and he wasn't sure how to answer them.**

**He was saved the reply, however, by the nurse bustling in, fawning over Ginny and making sure she was okay. Draco grimaced as Madame Pomfrey nearly forced more potion down the stubborn young woman's throat. She swallowed unhappily and lay back against the bed, her mouth twisted into an unhappy frown.**

**Madame Pomfrey then looked at Draco. Most people acted like they forgot about what happened last year. Everyone knew what he nearly did and they, gratefully, acted like they didn't. But he could see the hatred in her eyes. The fact that he brought Ginny here didn't seem to matter and he knew she was about to throw him out. Ginny seemed to see it as well and she did something rather strange.**

**"Please, miss. Let him stay?"**

**The nurse look horrified as she turned to stare at Ginny. She stared resolutely back. Finally, Madame Pomfrey turned away and went back into her office, obviously disapproving of this arrangement but unwilling to argue just now.**

**"Why didn't you let me fall?" Ginny asked again, sitting up in bed and looking at him hard. He felt like shrinking a few inches under her blazing gaze, which had grown stronger now that she took the medicine.**

**He gazed at the strips of the last evenings' sunshine that shone in through the high windows, then shrugged. "Why'd you jump?" he asked her, proud of his good comeback.**

**"Because I wanted to," she retorted angrily, as though she thought he had no business asking her that.**

**He took that as the end of that, but he was still curious to see why she attempted something so dangerous. Clearly not suicide? After watching her as much as he had been, it seemed extremely unlikely. She seemed like such a happy, jubilant person. What would make her want to kill herself?**

**"Well, I'm sorry for butting in then," he muttered. "It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time, was all."**

**Ginny smirked, a smirk that Draco believed cute and irritating simultaneously. "Well, well, well… Mr. Too-Cowardly-To-Kill-A-Weak-Old-Man-Malfoy talking about doing the right thing." He felt a quick flame of anger and embarrassment burn in his stomach and he averted his eyes. She fell quiet and he felt her eyes on him accusingly.**

**"Why didn't you do it?" she asked softly, leaning forward towards him slightly. "What held you back? What did he say to you to make you stop? Where you scared?"**

**"Listen," he said a bit loudly, standing and looking down at her. "I don't know how you even know about what happened up there but you weren't there when all that happened. No one was but me and Dumbledore, no one. You don't even have a clue what I was thinking or feeling!"**

**"That's why I asked," she whispered, slightly taken aback by his out burst but not afraid.**

**He sat and considered this, admiring her straightforwardness, though ashamed of the way he spoke to her. "I don't really-"**

**"It's okay," she said softly. "I guess you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. It's your business and none of mine."**

**"Did you just say something respectful to me?" he asked, grinning in spite of himself. That was rare from a Weasley to a Malfoy.**

**"Did you just save my life?" she retorted.**

**He chuckled. "Good point."**

**He looked at her and found her smiling, though she stopped as soon as he looked at her. He wished she hadn't. He loved when she smiled and couldn't believe he had caused her to smile that way.**

**"You know, you've really—"**

**"Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?" he asked her, realizing he cut her off but not thinking about it. He had to say it before he changed his mind.**

**She frowned and looked at him. "This weekend isn't a Hogsmeade weekend," she said.**

**"I know." **


	3. Dealing With The Unexplainable

**The Hogwarts Express wound it's way through the mountains and fields under a clear blue sky. The sun was out and shining as though all right and happy with the world it looked down upon. Draco wished it would stop. It was ruining his sullen mood as he stared out the window of his compartment.**

**Ever since he took that potion, he hadn't been feeling any different. Which is what scared him. He thought something big would happen, or at least begin to happen. But so far, nothing at all. The only thing new about him was that he didn't feel like being haughty and snobbish. Which was strange. Usually he loved picking on people lower than him. But now, he just couldn't find the energy or the reasoning. **

**For the few weeks left of that summer, he'd sat in his wing of the house, pacing, trying to figure out what this mysterious plan was. He knew better than to ask his father. He'd probably be punished for being nosy and worse, his father most likely didn't even know himself. As he got older, he came to learn how much his father did and didn't know. It was shocking to know Lucius wasn't the right-hand-man he always described himself to be. And Draco found himself hurt to be lied to all this time.**

**So here he sat on the train, waiting for his last year at school to begin. He wondered how he'd been allowed back after the whole Dumbledore fiasco, but his father told him to think nothing of it.**

**He still couldn't believe this was his seventh and final year. His father had gotten a position for him at the Ministry already. With the Magical Law Enforcement. Paperwork and filing at first, then, once he proved himself, he'd be involved in the front lines. And more important to his father, after this test, his _real _job as a Death Eater would begin. **

**"Ugh, sorry," came a voice from the doorway. His head whipped around. A goddess was standing in his doorway. Red hair flowing, pale skin and a lithe form. The light from the window of the compartment reflected off her every beautiful curve and feature. Her bag rested on her tilted hip and one delicate, white chocolate hand was on the latch of the door. Like an idiot, he stared at her and her look of indignation and disgust deepened. **

**"I-It's okay," he murmured when he realized what he was doing and turned around again. He could feel the pounding of his heart in his head, as if all his veins suddenly collected there. His body felt heavy and he felt her eyes dig into the back of his neck.**

**He heard the compartment door close a second later and he let out a breath he was unaware of holding. What the bloody mess just happened? Any other day he would have fired off insults like a gun does bullets. But today, he was imagining the unimaginable. **

**Only a phase, he muttered to himself. It's only a phase. My hormones or something. He shook his blonde head, trying to rid the image of her from his mind. It wouldn't leave.**

**He left the train and herded the first years into the boats so they could travel to the castle with Hagrid. His mind was still full of her. He then made his way over to the carriages for the rest of the students. He was just piling his bags into the back when something very strange happened.**

**It was as if all the sound and color had gone from the rest of the world. All he saw was her face. All he could hear was her sweet laughter as she passed by with colorless blurs that he couldn't care less about. Her beauty was everything suddenly and he watched her pass in the crowd.**

**He stared after her until he couldn't see her anymore, then, feeling as though he might vomit, he jerked his head away. It was as though an invisible string snapped and released him from his trance. The world went back to normal.**

**Nearly shaking, he got into the carriage with his fellow Slytherins. He'd been demoted in their eyes from leader for a number of reasons, so they basically ignored him now. He sat, staring out the window and wondered what was happening to him. **

**They finally came to the school and all through the sorting, McGonagall's speech, and dinner, all his energy was focused on keeping his eyes from wandering over to where he knew she was. He didn't have to see her to know where exactly at the table she was. He thanked the gods once the feast was over. After lethargically performing his prefect duties, he went down to his dorm in the dungeons. **

**Classes started the next day. His mind was full of her the whole day and if he happened to see her in the hall, the same thing would happen that happened by the carriages. The whole world seemed to meld together into nothing and all that he could see was her. **

**Draco was on his way to dinner a week later, when he decided just to skip. He could just conjure up something to eat later and he wasn't that hungry. Plus, he couldn't bear to be in the same room with her anymore. Dinner these past seven days was too distracting. So he wandered the halls instead, allowed to since he was a prefect. **

**The castle was dark now and it was a rather cool night despite the hot summer days. Having wandered these halls so much in the past, he ventured outside. He was never really an outdoor person, finding the sunshine, springy grass, and chirpy birds irritating. But it was the only place he really felt like going. **

**He wandered out to the Quidditch Pitch and suddenly felt intense unease. His gray eyes drifted up the stands from where he stood at the entrance to the pitch and he saw a small red head. He audibly groaned. Her? Here? He felt hopeless. No matter where he went, there she was. Always. He didn't try to follow her like this, it just happened.**

**Even though his mind told him to walk back up to the castle and get some food in him, his heart told him to stay. He leaned against the frame of the entrance and watched her motionless form. About ten minutes, she looked up. She was far away, but he could see her pale skin framed by her blazing red hair. She stood. His gut leapt. She walked to the edge of the stands resolutely and climbed into the railing, her arms spread out as though she intended to take flight. **

**"Ginny!" he screamed as she fell, running forward. However cliché it may sound, the universe froze. He watched her hair fly out behind her and her thin body arch as she fell. He whipped out his wand before he could think and pointed it at her. Without a spell even leaving his lips, she stopped and he was able to lower her safely to the ground.**

**He ran to her and knelt by her, his face flushed with running and fear. She was nearly unconscious, but unhurt. She fell from a great distance. She was staring up at him, a vague smile on her face and her hair spread out underneath her head like an elegant Japanese fan. "I guess you aren't so bad after all," she whispered, the words like honey pouring from her flower-petal lips. He watched her, still, his breath held. Her eyes closed and he knew she had fainted. **


	4. Changes Part I

**Draco firmly knocked on the rusty door, carefully avoiding the snake nailed bluntly to the wood. His father had told him it was there when he described the new headquarters, but it still kind of shocked him. Not to mentioned grossed him out. It just hung there… limp and dead. It was nasty, but Voldermort seemed to like it. Even seemed to find pride in it's residence. So it stayed, swinging about lamely whenever the door was open or shut.**

**He wasn't sure exactly why he was here, but he got an extremely urgent owl from his father saying to come immediately. He'd left for the place a while ago and Draco sat up in his wing of the house, pacing and wondering what could be going on without him. Ever since he failed to kill Dumbledore, he was left out of everything. Impatience and annoyance consumed him like a wildfire, but now that he was finally here, he was scared out of his wits and the fire that was burning his insides was more from nerves than anything else. **

**At seventeen, he knew he shouldn't be afraid. But then again, even his father feared Voldermort and wasn't ashamed to admit. That's what Voldermort liked. To be feared. He loved it. Lived on it. Thrived on it. Fear breeds influence and influence breeds power… his latest team motto.**

**Finally, the door opened. Draco knew it was Wormtail without even looking, but didn't even bother to acknowledge him, but just waltzed straight in as everyone else did. Once the doorknob gave that creaky little turn, his face changed to that of self-importance and indifference. His father never showed fear or cowardice, even if that's what he felt inside, so why should he? It was completely un-Malfoy-like. He was destined to follow in his father's footsteps, anyway. He had to act just like him. Nothing less was expected of him.**

**Draco went into the room off to the right like his father had instructed in the letter. He opened the door only but a crack and heard a cold shrilling voice granting him permission to enter. He inwardly flinched at the voice. It made his bones shiver and his heart skip. It was like death itself speaking to him, but he held his head high and walked inside, again, showing no fear.**

**"Young Malfoy," Voldermort said, his lips twisted into a smile. He looked at Draco in what would he would probably consider a fatherly way, but it wasn't. Draco knew that and it only made him wish his own father would look at him that way. Draco didn't know which he preferred: this would-be-fatherly manner, or the anger he'd seen after failing his task. Remembering before it was too late, he stumbled and dropped to the floor, kissing the hem of Voldermort's robes. **

**"Come, come. Sit, sit," Voldermort said busily, ushering him up and into an empty chair. Draco looked around at the two of them after taking the seat, his heart pounding, more nervous than anxious.**

**"Now Draco," said Voldermort, sitting down next to him. His expression was suddenly less fatherly and more business-like. "You failed me last time, you know that and you've been punished."**

**"I know, my Lord, again—" Draco fumbled. The punishment he'd been forced to endure the last time made him even more determined to please. But Voldermort held up a gaunt hand to stop him and Draco actually bit down on his lip to keep himself from saying any more.  
**

**"No need for apologies," he said dismissively. "I have decided to give you a second chance. My need for you is too great."**

**Draco didn't know whether to be happy or upset at this news, but smiled anyway. Again, nothing less would be expected of him.**

**"Getting straight to the point: you are to drink this," Voldermort continued, bringing a small vial out from his billowing black robes. It was filled with a red, smoky liquid. It looked like blood in a gas form, streaked with a disgusting-looking black as though it had congealed in the vial. Draco tried his hardest not to cringe.**

**He went on. "You are then to go to school as usual. Go about your lessons as you normally would. Your test will become evident to you in time, but I won't tell you what it is. All I can tell you is that, soon enough, your loyalty to me will be tested once more. If you pass this test, someone will die. But Potter will be in my grasp and all past infractions can be excused. Fail… and the punishment will be worse than last time. Oh, so much worse…"**

**Draco swallowed hard at his blunt threat and looked at his father, who was staring deeply at him. Draco knew his father was waiting for him to say yes and drink the damn stuff already. "Well Draco?" he pressed, raising a blonde eyebrow as though daring him to say no. **

**"Yes sir," Draco murmured. "I would be no less than happy to prove my loyalty to you," he said louder, looking into Voldermort's expecting red eyes that had haunted his dreams for oh, so long.**

**Both men smiled and Voldermort uncorked the bottle, pressing it into Draco's hand. "Drink up, boy. I'm sure your father is aching to go home and celebrate with you."**

**More like brag about it to all of his rich friends, Draco thought. But he placed the vial to his lips and chugged it down. It tasted like nothing, but he did feel it slide down his throat. He was glad there was no taste. He was afraid he would have spit it back up in shock and seem like a complete dunce. **

**"Your initiation has begun."**


End file.
